- State Department: US regime to suspend visa processing for 75 nations
Source: Reuters
“The Trump administration is suspending all visa processing for visitors from 75 countries starting January 21, Fox News reported on Wednesday, citing a memo from the U.S. State Department. Somalia, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand are among the affected countries, according to the report. Representatives for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported memo, which Fox News said directs U.S. embassies to refuse visas under existing law while the department reassesses its procedures. No time frame was provided.” (01/14/26)
- House GOP moves to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress in Epstein probe
Source: Axios
“House Oversight Republicans will begin contempt of Congress proceedings against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she failed to appear for a deposition Wednesday as part of the committee’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Both Clintons will face contempt of Congress proceedings — a rarely used congressional enforcement tool. … The Oversight panel will vote to hold Hillary and Bill Clinton in contempt next Wednesday, Comer said. Criminal contempt of Congress carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000, though not every witness who defies a subpoena is referred for prosecution.” (01/14/26)
- UK: Regime waters down mandatory digital ID scheme after backlash
Source: ABC News
“The British government has watered down plans for mandatory digital identification cards, a contentious idea it had touted as a way to help control immigration. It’s the latest policy U-turn by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled center-left government, which is under fire from both opposition politicians and governing Labour Party lawmakers. Officials confirmed Wednesday that it won’t be compulsory for citizens and residents to show a digital ID card in order to get a job, ditching a key plank of the policy announced in September. … Britain has not had compulsory identity cards for ordinary citizens since shortly after World War II, and the idea has long been contentious. Civil rights campaigners argue it infringes personal liberty and puts people’s information at risk.” (01/14/26)
- FBI searches reporter’s home
Source: The Hill
“The home of a Washington Post reporter was searched by the FBI as part of an investigation by the bureau into the leaking of classified documents tied to President Trump’s efforts to trim the size of the federal government. The search, which was first reported by The New York Times and the Post itself, came at the home of journalist Hannah Natanson …. Natanson was home at the time of the search, the Post reported, and the FBI seized her two laptops, cell phone and a Garmin watch during the operation. A warrant tied to the search noted the investigation was focused on a government system administrator in Maryland who ‘has a top secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement,’ the outlet reported.” (01/14/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5688345-fbi-searches-washington-post-reporter
- Donations Surge for Ford Worker Who Triggered Trump With “Pedo Protector”
Source: The Daily Beast
“A fundraiser for a man who was suspended for calling President Donald Trump a ‘pedophile protector’ has raised more than $222,000 in just a few hours. Ford factory worker TJ Sabula was recorded getting into a confrontation with Trump during the president’s tour of one of the automaker’s plants in Michigan on Tuesday. Video of the incident shows Trump — who has faced widespread condemnation over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files — appearing to mouth ‘f— you’ and flip the bird after Sabula is heard calling him a ‘pedophile protector. The worker said he was suspended over the incident but told The Washington Post that he has ‘no regrets whatsoever.'” (01/14/26)
- McConaughey trademarks himself
Source: Engadget
“Matthew McConaughey filed trademark applications to prevent his likeness from being used by AI companies without permission, and the US Patent and Trademark Office has approved eight so far. According to the Wall Street Journal, the trademarks were for video and audio clips featuring the actor staring, smiling and talking. One was for a video of him standing on a porch, while another was for an audio recording of him saying ‘alright, alright, alright,’ his signature catchphrase from the movie Dazed and Confused. Under the law, it’s already prohibited for companies to steal someone’s likeness to sell products. However, McConaughey is taking a proactive approach due to the nebulous rules around the use of someone’s likeness for artificial intelligence and what’s considered commercial use involving the technology.” (01/14/26)
- China: Regime reports record $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025, defying Trump’s tariffs
Source: NBC News
“China had its biggest trade surplus ever last year at almost $1.2 trillion, according to data released Wednesday, defying tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on the world’s second-largest economy. China is sending more exports to other parts of the world, even as it struggles with domestic economic troubles. China’s foreign trade in goods last year totaled 45.47 trillion yuan ($6.51 trillion), up 3.8% from the year before, state media reported, citing figures from the General Administration of Customs. That included 26.99 trillion yuan ($3.8 trillion) in exports and 18.48 trillion yuan ($2.6 trillion) in imports. Exports grew 6.1% compared with the previous year, while imports grew 0.5%.” (01/14/26)
- Appeals court rules “Fat Leonard” must serve full sentence in US Navy corruption scandal
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian contractor known as ‘Fat Leonard’ at the center of the worst bribery and corruption scheme in U.S. Navy history, must serve the remainder of his 15-year prison sentence, according to an appeals court ruling that became official Monday. … He argued in part that U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino violated his Fifth Amendment rights and abused her discretion in November 2024 when she handed down a sentence that was 40 months longer than what prosecutors recommended. … The Malaysian contractor admitted that he spent decades bribing a rotating cast of officers from the Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific, showering them with lavish dinners, luxury hotel rooms, top-shelf liquor, prostitutes and cash. In turn, those officers steered ships to the Southeast Asian ports controlled by Francis and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.” (01/13/26)
- Bulgaria: Snap Election Likely After Reformist Group Rejects Bid for Regime
Source: US News & World Report
“Bulgaria’s second-largest parliamentary grouping, the reformist PP-DB, declined a request on Wednesday from the president to try to form a new government, increasing the likelihood of a snap election in the European Union’s poorest member state. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s coalition government, backed by GERB-SDS, resigned last month after weeks of street protests against state corruption and a new budget that would have increased some taxes. In line with the constitution, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Monday had formally asked the conservative GERB-SDS to form the government which they rejected. On Wednesday PP-DB, which seeks closer relations with the European Union, also rejected the mandate, BTA agency reported. Radev is now expected to offer a chance to govern to another party and then if they refuse he will have to call a snap vote, Bulgaria’s eighth in just four years.” (01/24/26)
- Trump vs. Free Markets
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Whatever debilitating brain parasite burrowed into the gray matter of American politics over the last decade-plus has resulted in some astonishing transformations. One of the biggest has been the reshaping of the once nominally pro-capitalist Republican party into a populist party hostile to free markets. Under President Donald Trump, the GOP increasingly favors the whims of the president and his cronies over the results of voluntary interactions among millions of buyers, producers, and sellers. Most recently, we see this in the form of Trump’s announced intentions to ban some real estate investors from purchasing single-family homes and his proposed cap on credit card interest rates. … as many points of disagreement spark fiery clashes, economics isn’t really a point of contention between the dominant factions of the two main parties. Trump’s Republicans agree with the ‘opposition’ progressive Democrats that the government should be running the economy.” (01/14/26)
- More laws equivalent of more crime
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“Trying to solve crime with authoritarian government, more laws, and stricter enforcement is like trying to keep someone healthy by stuffing them in a coffin and burying them alive. Yet, this is the first move politicians make when they see a problem. Turning to government and its laws is a sign your society has failed, and the unfortunate fact is that this only causes more crime in the long run. As the Chinese philosopher Laozi pointed out over 2,000 years ago, ‘The more numerous the laws, the more thieves and robbers there will be.’ … Whoever said it, it’s true. It has always been true, and it remains so today. Only, can we finally admit it’s not ‘corruption,’ but government working exactly as designed?” (01/14/26)
- Chicago does not have a single licensed hot dog cart. Here’s why.
Source: Washington Post
by Austin Berg“The home of the Chicago-style hot dog does not have a single food cart licensed to sell hot dogs on city sidewalks, according to a Chicago Policy Center analysis of city data. It sounds unbelievable. But it’s true. This de facto ban speaks to a political structure and culture that still prioritizes who you know, rather than how well you serve customers. For decades, Chicago did not allow food carts of any kind. Brick-and-mortar restaurant interests lobbied city bureaucrats to keep street vendors from legally operating. Meanwhile, vendors were still out selling sliced fruit, tamales and other street food illicitly across the city. … After community pressure, the city created a new license for food carts in 2015. … But nearly a decade later, there are just 14 licensed food carts of any kind in Chicago. Compare that with New York, home to 7,000 licensed food cart vendors.” (01/14/26)
- Patrick Henry Was Right
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“I don’t know that I’m 100 percent ready to agree with Leighton Woodhouse that ‘the hysterical pussy hats were right,’ but I am very much convinced that the anti-federalists were, and that that fact ultimately is more consequential. One of the arguments put forward to excuse or minimize the aggression — and the brutality — of ICE’s campaign in Minneapolis is that federal agents cannot rely on the cooperation of state and local authorities …. So (goes this argument) rather than ask the local police to intervene when, e.g., protesters partly block a street or otherwise inconvenience federal agents, ICE agents really have no choice but to take aggressive action on their own, and that such action is justified by its necessity. Like so much of what one hears from apologists for Donald Trump and his administration, this is a fundamentally un-American point of view, one that misunderstands the nature of our constitutional order.” (01/14/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/federalism-trump-demagogues-sanctuary-cities-states/
- China’s Rare Earth “Monopoly” — and Why Markets Will Break It
Source: The Daily Economy
by Walter Donway“[T]he United States, long the world’s leading industrial power, has become dependent on the goodwill of a strategic rival for materials central to its economy and its defense. That dependence did not arise because rare earth minerals are scarce. They are not. Nor did it arise because China alone possesses the technical capacity to mine or refine them. It arose from a long chain of economic and political decisions — made largely in free societies — that concentrated production in a country willing to accept costs others would not. Understanding how that happened is essential to understanding why China’s apparent monopoly is far less ‘coercive,’ and far less durable, than it looks.” (01/14/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/chinas-rare-earth-monopoly-and-why-markets-will-break-it/
- Those who execute military orders carry all the risk
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jon Duffy“The dispute between Sen. Mark Kelly and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being told as a simple morality play. On one side, the claim that Kelly crossed a line and deserves punishment. On the other, the insistence that Kelly is a hero beyond reproach and that the administration’s response is villainy. Both frames are comforting. Both are wrong. What matters most here is not who appeared righteous or reckless in the moment, but what happens when legality is left unresolved. In this case, junior service members are being placed in the position of exercising legal and moral judgment without meaningful authority, clarity or institutional backing. Those who make decisions remain insulated from consequence; those who execute them carry the risk.” (01/14/26)
- Crocodile Tears for the Iranian People
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, CIA, and NSA) are ramping up the U.S. war machine for another military attack on a sovereign and independent nation — this time, Iran. Their rationale? They say that they just want to help the Iranian protestors who are being killed by the Iranian dictatorship and its own national-security establishment. Don’t make me laugh. Come on! Why not the same brutal honesty about Iran as we have seen with Venezuela? At least Trump, the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA are not justifying their extra-judicial killings on the high seas and their military kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by claiming to be helping the Venezuelan people.” (01/14/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/01/14/crocodile-tears-for-the-iranian-people/
- MAGA’S Young, Dumb Future
Source: The Bulwark
by Andrew Egger“It’s not a crime to be young and dumb in America. It’s not even a career-ending offense to be young and dumb in journalism. As ludicrous as [Nick] Shirley’s current output is, he’s plainly got a certain aptitude for video reporting. In a different world — one set up to restrain his worst and dumbest instincts rather than to reward them — a guy like him could turn out to be a solid reporter. … Guys like Nick Shirley aren’t trying to join a publication, they’re picking up a camera and trying to go viral on their own. They have no safety net, no sounding board, no mentorship, no way to grow beyond what they’re doing this minute. All they have is the zero-sum game of the algorithm: Get noticed or die. … That’s what the ecosystem rewards, so we’re going to get more and more of it.” (01/14/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/i/184544780/magas-young-dumb-future
- Trump’s credit card interest cap is bad for the economy
Source: USA Today
by Dace Potas“Interest rates aren’t a number just pulled out of nowhere. Higher-risk clients need to pay higher interest rates in order for banks to be willing to take their business. Telling banks they can only charge so much interest will make them more selective in whom they lend to. Trump and other populists imagine that in passing legislation capping interest rates, all other functions of the credit card industry will remain the same, just with a lower rate for consumers. The reality is that if banks cannot offset accepting riskier clientele by charging them higher interest rates, they simply will not expose themselves to the risk that some people provide. This means that low-income Americans or those with shaky credit histories will have no chance at obtaining credit cards.” (01/14/26)
- The perils of naughty piccies by Grok
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“We appear to be having one of those public fits of morality for which the British are famous. First there’s the observation that AI can be used to create naughty images. Yes, this does in fact mean all the different services, including the open source ones that can be run on a home PC, can be used to create such imagery. This is then focused in a two minute hate upon the evil of the day, X/Twitter and Grok. At which point X limits the ability to do so to paid accounts — paid accounts being those where the individual operating the account is a known individual. … Who is going to use a named and identified account to do something that’s illegal after all? At which point we’re told that this is ‘insulting.’ Solving the problem is insulting, eh?” (01/14/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-perils-of-naughty-piccies-by-grok
- Trump’s quest to kick America’s “Iraq War syndrome”
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Leah Schroeder“American forces invaded Panama in 1989 to capture Manuel Noriega, a former U.S. ally whose rule over Panama was marred by drug trafficking, corruption and human rights abuses. But experts point to another, perhaps just as critical goal: to cure the American public of ‘Vietnam syndrome,’ which has been described as a national malaise and aversion of foreign interventions in the wake of the failed Vietnam War. On both fronts, the operation was a success. With Noriega in custody and democracy restored, President George H. W. Bush could make the case that the U.S. military was back to peak performance and that force — including regime change — could be used effectively for good, commencing a new era of foreign interventionism in America. Nearly four decades and several disastrous conflicts later, the public has overwhelmingly become skeptical once more, especially after the 20 years of war following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.” (01/14/26)
- So, How’s the Occupation Going for You?
Source: Liberal Currents
by Taylor Carik“After being told that school was cancelled for two days because of ICE, my elementary school-age daughter replied, ‘That makes sense, it’s really slippery outside.’ I’ve told that anecdote a few times already this week, along with another very recent exchange from when the school reopened, albeit with heavy community safety patrolling by parents. After saying a quick hello at afterschool pick-up, followed by a pregnant pause in its truest elephant-in-the-city way, another parent asked me sardonically, ‘So, how’s the occupation going for you?’ These simple exchanges capture both the enormity of the experience of living under this new modern form of domestic occupation in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the day-to-dayness of having to navigate it.” (01/14/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/so-hows-the-occupation-going-for-you/
- A Distraction From the Epstein Files?
Source: The American Conservative
by Spencer Neale“Trump has successfully shifted the Overton Window away from elite sexual exploitation toward rotating foreign vendettas.” (01/14/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/a-distraction-from-the-epstein-files/
- Socialist America?
Source: Law & Liberty
by George Hawley“Limited government proponents should feel uneasy. On the right, populists deride economic liberty’s supporters as anachronistic ‘market fundamentalists.’ The free market, they suggest, is not aligned with the preferences or interests of the Republican Party’s new working-class coalition. Many of these populists are eager to abandon freedom for tariffs and other forms of ‘industrial policy’ — a euphemism for granting the state authority to pick economic winners and losers. Unfortunately, trends on the left may be even worse. With populists embracing new state interventions and untrammeled executive power, freedom advocates find their influence on the right at a nadir. Perhaps overtures to the center-left are in order? Having lost the last presidential election to a very flawed Republican candidate, maybe Democrats will be inclined to move toward the center. There is some historical precedence for this.” (01/14/26)
- The Glee You See From Fascists About State Violence is a Sexual Fetish
Source: CounterPunch
by Kenn Orphan“[T]here is an enormous amount of repressed fetishism happening within the celebration of ICE violence. They find unchecked, unaccountable power enticing. Its sadism is intoxicating because it allows them to disassociate from the crushing weight of their own inner turmoil. And because virtually none of them have ever taken the time to examine their own shadows, they project them onto everyone and everything. This psychology of sadomasochism is not the kind one finds in consensual BDSM relationships or communities. Quite the opposite. The people who participate in consensual BDSM do it because it is cathartic. Because it is fun. Because they trust their partner. But the kind we see among far-right and fascist groups is solely about demeaning those who have not submitted to the state or to a mob.” (01/14/26)
- Trump Says He Sets His Own Limits; Founding Fathers Disagree
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Alan Mosley“During a January 2026 interview with The New York Times, President Donald Trump was asked whether anything could limit his ability to use the vast military and economic power of the United States as he saw fit. His answer was breathtakingly candid. Trump replied, ‘Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.’ … Morally, a leader claiming to be constrained only by his personal sense of right and wrong should alarm anyone who values the rule of law. But a far more concrete problem exists: the perspective reflects a misunderstanding — or willful rejection — of the constitutional design of the American republic. The U.S. Constitution was deliberately constructed to prevent the very scenario Trump describes, that of a single individual unilaterally dragging the nation into conflict.” (01/14/26)
- Genocide Isn’t a Mistake. Which Is Why the Media Can’t Tell You the Truth About Gaza
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook“It is almost impossible to get serious criticism of the Israeli state, which (falsely) claims to represent the Jewish people, anywhere near mainstream US culture, even when it takes the form of a critically acclaimed movie, backed by Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix, that received a record 23-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. For decades, pro-Israel lobby groups have dedicated their efforts to telling us that antisemitism is rampant across the West and takes the form of opposition of Israel – a message endlessly amplified by the western media. … The solution, it hardly needs pointing out, is to shut down criticism of Israel to reduce antisemitism.” (01/14/26)
- Cheap Credit Doesn’t Create Economic Growth — It Makes Us Poorer
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Soham Patil“Net Present Value (NPV) is a popular decision-making criteria used by firms to make key, crucial choices about how to allocate resources across an economy. Net Present Value forecasts temporally discount future cash flows to their present value to check whether a project creates value. If a project has an NPV greater than zero, it creates value. On the other hand, if a project has an NPV less than zero, the project loses value. NPV forecasting isn’t perfect and there are often assumptions baked into any forecast but there is one particular type of error that occurs most often and has disastrous consequences.” (01/13/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/cheap-credit-doesnt-create-economic-growth-it-makes-us-poorer
- Tariffs Have Hurt, Not Helped, the US Economy
Source: Foreign Policy
by Keith Johnson“The U.S. economy, after a tumultuous year of tariffs and trade wars, appears to have performed better than feared earlier in the year, with annual GDP growth through the third quarter of about 2 percent, including a surprisingly healthy bump in the last reported quarter. But that, contrary to what U.S. President Donald Trump says, is not because of tariffs but in spite of them. And 2026 looks set to be an even rockier year on the trade front, with further negative implications for U.S. economic performance.” (01/13/26)
- The Political Orphanage
Source: The Political Orphanage
“The Friendship Recession and Cocktail Parties.” (01/14/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/the-friendship-recession-and-cocktail-parties
- Rising, 01/14/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers radar on a proposed 5% wealth tax in California which he believes is not a great idea as it reportedly prompted at least six billionaires including Larry Page and Peter Thiel to cut ties with the state.” (01/14/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5688423-rising-january-14-2026/
- The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell, 01/14/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Jack Smith Says He Had Trump Dead to Rights (w/ Asha Rangappa).” (01/14/26)
- Reason Interview: Colleen Shogan
Source: Reason
“Can We Save American History From Partisan Politics?” (01/14/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/01/14/can-we-save-american-history-from-partisan-politics/
- Underthrow Podcast, 01/14/26
Source: Underthrow
“Iran and Venezuela: A Tale of Two Regime Changes w/ James Harrigan.” (01/14/26)
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 01/14/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Ethics Rooted in Physics | Interview: Rebecca Newberger-Goldstein.” (01/14/26)
- Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 01/14/26
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Patrick Wood (Technocracy.News) and Courtenay Turner (Freedom-Fighter; co-founder of Pirate Stream Media) on their newest book: The Final Betrayal: How Technocracy Destroyed America; new world order, communism, technocracy, AI, where are we now, predictions, etc.” (01/14/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/14/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Tirades about Shooting Get Darker as Polls Turn Brutal on ICE.” (01/14/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/205263/trump-tirades-shooting-get-darker-polls-turn-brutal-ice
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 01/14/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Tells Iran Protesters: ‘Help Is on Its Way,’ Senate To Vote on Venezuela War Powers, and More.” (01/14/26)
- Nonzero, 01/13/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“The Minneapolis Shooting Rorschach Test | Robert Wright & Paul Bloom.” (01/13/26)
- System Update, episode 565
Source: System Update
“Prof. John Mearsheimer on Why Foreign Involvement in Iran Would Fail, U.S. Aggression Toward Venezuela, Trump’s Foreign Policy, and More.” (01/13/26)
- Capital Record, episode 279
Source: National Review
“Solving the Right Problem the Wrong Way Does Not Solve the Problem.” (01/13/26)
- Mean Age Daydream, 01/13/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Scott Adams & the Golden Globes Die in Same Week.” (01/13/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/madd-scott-adams-amp-the-golden-globes-die-in-same-week